Project description:The aim of this study was to investigate the transciptional mechanisms regulated by three PIM kinases during early human Th17 cell differentiation. PIM kinases were transiently silenced using RNAi (KD) approach followed by RNA-seq to determine their global transciptional targets.
Project description:The aim of this study was to investigate the transciptional mechanisms regulated by three PIM kinases at singel cell level during early human Th17 cell differentiation. PIM kinases were transiently silenced using RNAi (KD) approach followed by single cell RNA-seq to determine the gene expression profile of PIM negative Th17 cells.
Project description:Bulk RNA-seq to profile of c-kit+ cardiac interstitial cells, comparing the transcriptomes of Pim-1 enhanced cardiac progenitor cells and transfection control
Project description:PIM kinases have important pro-tumorigenic roles and mediate several oncogenic traits, including cell proliferation, survival, and chemotherapeutic resistance. As a result, multiple PIM inhibitors have been pursued as investigational new drugs in cancer; however, response to PIM inhibitors in solid tumors has fallen short of expectations. We found that inhibition of PIM kinase activity stabilizes protein levels of all three PIM isoforms (PIM1/2/3), and this can promote resistance to PIM inhibitors and chemotherapy. To overcome this effect, we designed PIM proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) to target PIM for degradation. PIM PROTACs effectively downmodulated PIM levels through the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. Importantly, degradation of PIM kinases was more potent than inhibition of catalytic activity in inducing apoptosis in prostate cancer cell line models. In conclusion, we provide evidence of the advantages of degrading PIM kinases versus inhibiting their catalytic activity to target the oncogenic functions of PIM kinases.
Project description:The early stages of human Th17 Cell differentiation were studied using label free proteomics to compare Th17 polarized CD4+ human T cells at 24 h and 72 h with activated cells (72 and 24 h) and Thp cells.
Project description:Th17 cells are a heterogeneous population that is critical for tissue homeostasis and inflammation during clearance of infections and autoimmunity. Despite substantial efforts distinguishing homeostatic and inflammatory roles of Th17 cells, the mechanism underlying the divergent functions of inflammatory Th17 cells is poorly understood. In this study, we show that the inflammatory Th17 engaged in autoimmune colitis and those involved in infection-induced colitis are two distinguishable populations illustrated by their distinct responses to a pharmacological molecule, clofazimine (CLF). Distinct from existing Th17 inhibitors, CLF selectively inhibits pro-autoimmune Th17 cells while preserving the functional state of infection-elicited Th17 cells through restricting Aldh1l2expression. Using bulk RNA sequencing, we explored transcriptional response to CLF on in vitro differentiated inflammatory and homeostatic Th17 cells. Notably, we identified a unique suppression in the transcription of signature inflammatory genes in Th17 cells with a marginal effect on those elicited by infection.
Project description:The ERG gene belongs to the ETS family of transcription factors and has been found involved in atypical chromosomal rearrangements in several cancers. To gain insight into the oncogenic activity of ERG, we compared the gene expression profile of NIH-3T3 cells stably expressing the coding regions of the three main ERG oncogenic fusions: TMPRSS2/ERG (tERG), EWS/ERG and FUS/ERG,. We found that all the three ERG fusions significantly up-regulate PIM-1 expression in the NIH-3T3 cell line. PIM-1 is a serine/threonine kinase frequently over-expressed in cancers of haematological and epithelial origin. We show here that tERG expression induces PIM-1 in the non-malignant prostate cell line RWPE-1, strengthening the relation between tERG and PIM-1 up-regulation in the initial stages of prostate carcinogenesis. Silencing of tERG reversed PIM-1 induction. A significant association between ERG and PIM-1 expression in clinical prostate carcinoma specimens was found, suggesting that such a mechanism may be relevant in vivo. Chromatin Immunoprecipitation experiments showed that tERG directly binds to PIM-1 promoter in the RWPE-1 prostate cell line, suggesting that tERG could be a direct regulator of PIM-1 expression. The up-regulation of PIM-1 induced by tERG over-expression significantly modified CyclinB1 levels and increased the percentage of aneuploid cells in the RWPE-1 cell line after 24hrs of taxane-based treatment. Here we provide the first evidence for an ERG-mediated PIM-1 up-regulation in prostate cells in vitro and in vivo, suggesting a direct effect of ERG transcriptional activity in the alteration of genetic stability. NIH-3T3 cells stably expressing the coding regions of the three main ERG oncogenic fusions: TMPRSS2/ERG (tERG), EWS/ERG and FUS/ERG together with the empty vector where profiled in triplicate. Quality control using NUSE and RLE plots identified one array as problematic (R540_TMP-ERG_P1) which was removed.